Lot 151: GIOVANNI BATTISTA LOMBARDI 1823-1880 A MARBLE BUST OF A VEILED WOMAN CIRCA 1879

inscribed Lombardi f Roma 1879.

height 25 1/2 in. (65cm)

The technique of carving veiled women in marble was perfected by 19th century Italian sculptors including Lombardi, Raffaele Monti, and Antonio Rossetti. Foreign collectors, in particular the English, were greatly impressed by the skill with which this was achieved. Examples by Lombardi date from the late 1860s and throughout the 1870s including a work from 1869 nearly identical to the present lot which sold in these rooms November 21, 2002, lot 114. Lombardi is also known for his portrayals of Old Testament heroines.